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FOUR OPEN LETTERS 



FROM THE 



University Commission on 
Race Questions 



TO THE 



College Men of the South 









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LYNCHING 

This letter is not written to convince you that lynching is a crime, for you know 
it already. Its object is to urge you to show others whenever opportunity presents 
itself that lynching does more than rob its victims of their constitutional rights and 
of their lives. It simultaneously lynches law and justice and civilization, and out- 
rages all the finer human sentiments and feelings. 

The wrong that it does to the wretched victims is almost as nothing compared 
to the injury it does to the lynchers themselves, to the community, and to society 
at large. 

Lynching is a contagious social disease, and as such is of deep concern to every 
American citizen and to every lover of civilization. It is especially of concern to 
you, and you can do much to abolish it. Vice and crime know that their best, though 
unconscious and unwilling allies, are luke-warmness and timidity on the part of 
educated, ''good" citizens. Wrong is weaker than right, and must yield whenever 
right is persistent and determined. 

It is, of course, no argument in favor of lynching, nor can we derive any legiti- 
mate satisfaction from the fact that it is not confined to any one section of our 
country and that the victims are not always black. One of the bad features of 
lynching is that it quickly becomes a habit, and, like all bad habits, deepens and 
widens rapidly. Formerly lynchings were mainly incited by rape and murder, but 
the habit has spread until now such outrages are committed for much less serious 
crimes. 

The records of lynching for 1914, compiled by three different agencies, give the 
total number for the year at 52, 54, and 74, the authority for these figures being 
Tuskegee Institute, the Chicago Trilune, and the Crisis, respectively. 

The conflicting reports can not be harmonized, but, to avoid any possibility of 
exaggeration, we may employ the most conservative of these for analysis. 

It reveals these facts: Number lynched — colored: male 46, female 3; white: 
male 3, female 0. Total 52. 

Crimes charged against victims: Murder 13, robbery and murder 6, robbery and 
attempted murder 1, suspected of murder 1, rape 6, attempted rape 1, killing an 
officer 5, wounding officer 1, murderous assault 3, alleged murderous assault 1, 
biting off a man's chin 1, accused of wounding a person 1, killing person in quarrel 4, 
beating child to death 1, trying to force way into woman's room 1, stealing shoes 1, 
stealing mules 1, setting fire to barn 2, assisting a man to escape who had wounded 
another 1, being found under a house 1. 

The three women were lynched for the following reasons: One, 17 years old, for 
killing a man who, it was reported, had raped her; the second was accused of beating 
a child to death; the third was accused of helping her husband set fire to a barn. 
In the last case, both husband and wife were lynched in the presence of their 
4-year-old child. 

It should be especially noted that of the fifty-two persons lynched, only seven- 
two white and five colored — or 13 per cent, were charged with the crime against 
womanhood. This shows clearly how far and how quickly the habit has spread 
beyond the bounds set by those who first resorted to lynching as a remedy. 



According to states, the lynchings were distributed as follows: Alabama 2, 
Arkansas 1, Florida 4, Georgia 2, Louisiana 12, Mississippi 12, Missouri 1, New 
Mexico 1, North Dakota 1, North Carolina 1, Oklahoma 3, Oregon 1, South 
Carolina 4, Tennessee 1, Texas 6. 

The same agency which reported fifty-two lynchings for 1914 makes the follow- 
ing report for 1915: Number lynched — colored: male 51, female 3; white: male 14, 
female 0. Total 68. This is an increase of 16, or 30 per cent, over the total number 
for 1914. 

According to states, the lynchings for 1915 were distributed as follows: 
Alabama 9, Arkansas 5, Florida 5, Georgia 18, Illinois 1, Kentucky 5, Louisiana 2. 
Mississippi 9, Missouri 2, Ohio 1, Oklahoma 3, South Carolina 1, Tennessee 2, 
Texas 5. 

It is worthy of note that in at least four cases it later was discovered that the 
victims of the mob were innocent of the crime of which they were accused. 

These are the terrible facts. Is there no remedy ? Have we not sufficient legal 
intelligence and machinery to take care of every case of crime committed ? Must we 
fall back on the methods of the jungle? Civilization rests on obedience to law, which 
means the substitution of reason and deliberation for impulse, instinct, and passion. 
It is easy and tempting to obey the latter, but to be governed by the former requires 
self-control, which comes from the interposition of thought between impulse and 
action. Herein lies the college man's opportunity to serve his fellows; to interpose 
deliberation between their impulses and action, and in that way to control both. 

Society has a right to expect college men to help in moulding opinion and 
shaping conduct in matters of this sort. It is their privilege and duty to cooperate 
with others in leading crusades against crime and mob rule and for law and civili- 
zation. The college man belongs in the front rank of those fighting for moral and 
social progress. For this reason the University Commission makes its first appeal to 
you and urges you strongly to cooperate with the press, the pulpit, the bar, officers 
of the law, and all other agencies striving to eliminate this great evil, by speaking 
out boldly when speech is needed and letting your influence be felt against it in 
decided, unmistakable measure and manner. 

(Signed) J. J. Doster, Professor of Education and Dean of the School of 
Education, University of Alabama. 

D. Y. Thomas, Professor of Political Science, University of Arkansas. 
James M. Farr, Professor of English, University of Florida. 

R. J. H. DeLoach, Professor of Cotton Industry, University of 

Georgia. 
William O. Scroggs, Professor of Sociology, Louisiana State 

University. 
\V. L. Kennon, Professor of Physics, University of Mississippi. 

E. C. Branson, Professor of Rural Economics, University of North 

Carolina. 
Josiah Morse, Professor of Philosophy, University of South Carolina. 
James D. Hoskins, Dean of the University of Tennessee. 
\Y. S. Sutton, Professor of Education and Dean of the School of 

Education, University of Texas. 
W. M. Hunley, Professor of Economics, Virginia Military Institute. 

January 5, 1916. 



II 

EDUCATION 

In its first open letter to college men of the South, issued at the beginning of 
the present year, the University Commission urged them to unite their efforts with 
those of the press, the pulpit, the bar, the officers of the law, and all other agencies 
laboring for the elimination of the monster evil of mob violence. These agencies 
have labored diligently and with substantial results, as is indicated by the decrease 
of the average annual number of lynchings from 171 for the decade 1886-1895 to 
70 for the decade 1906-1915. Nevertheless, the Commission wishes to reiterate its 
appeal with renewed emphasis, knowing that the eradication of so virulent a social 
disease as the lynching mania can be effected only by the prolonged and vigorous 
efforts of sane and patriotic citizens. 

In this letter the Commission wishes to direct the attention of the college men 
to the educational aspect of the race question, inasmuch as the solution of all human 
problems ultimately rests upon rightly directed education. In its last analysis, 
education simply means bringing forth all the native capacities of the individual for 
the benefit both of himself and of society. It is axiomatic that a developed plant, 
animal, or man is far more valuable to society than the undeveloped. It is likewise 
obvious that ignorance is the most fruitful source of human ills. Furthermore, it is 
as true in a social as in a physical sense that a chain is no stronger than its weakest 
link. The good results thus far obtained, as shown by the Negro's progress within 
recent years, prompt the Commission to urge the extension of his educational 
opportunities. 

The inadequate provision for the education of the Negro is more than an in- 
justice to him; it is an injury to the white man. The South can not realize its 
destiny if one-third of its population is undeveloped and inefficient. For our common 
welfare we must strive to cure disease wherever we find it, strengthen whatever is 
weak, and develop all that is undeveloped. The initial steps for increasing the 
efficiency and usefulness of the Negro race must necessarily be taken in the school 
room. There can be no denying that more and better schools, with better trained 
and better paid teachers, more adequate supervision and longer terms, are needed 
for the blacks, as well as the whites. The Negro schools are, of course, parts of the 
school systems of their respective states, and as such share in the progress and 
prosperity of their state systems. Our appeal is for a larger share for the Negro, 
on the ground of the common welfare and common justice. He is the weakest link 
in our civilization, and our welfare is indissolubly bound up with his. 

Many means are open to the college men of the South for arousing greater 
public interest in this matter and for promoting a more vigorous public effort to this 
end. A right attitude in this, as in all other important public questions, is a con- 
dition precedent to success. For this reason the Commission addresses to Southern 
college men this special appeal. 

(Signed) J. J. Doster, Professor of Education and Dean of the School of 
Education, University of Alabama. 
D. Y. Thomas, Professor of Political Science, University of Arkansas. 



James M. Fabb, Professor of English, University of Florida. 

R. J. H. DeLoach, Professor of Cotton Industry, University of 

Georgia. 
William 0. Scroggs, Professor of Sociology, Louisiana State 

University. 
W. L. Kennon, Professor of Physics, University of Mississippi. 
E. C. Branson, Professor of Rural Economics, University of North 

Carolina. 
Josiah Morse, Professor of Philosophy, University of South Carolina. 
James D. Hoskins, Dean of the University of Tennessee. 
W. S. Sutton, Professor of Education and Dean of the School of 

Education, University of Texas. 
W. M. Hunley, Professor of Economics, Virginia Military Institute. 



September 1, 1916. 



Ill 

MIGRATION 

On two previous occasions the University Commission on Southern Race Ques- 
tions addressed open letters to the college men of the South, setting forth briefly 
the results of their studies and conferences on topics of importance to both races. 
The first of these dealt with the lynching evil, and, after pointing out the inherent 
injustice of it and its menace to the established institutions of society, emphasized 
the fact that human actions are like boomerangs, affecting those who act as much 
as, if not more than, those who are acted upon. It is becoming more and more recog- 
nized that the white race in many subtle ways has suffered more from lynching and 
its consequences than has the black. 

The second letter dealt with the education of the Negro, and stressed the need 
of larger support, better teachers, longer terms, and more adequate facilities, again 
on the ground of inherent justice of the proposal, and the fact that in doing for 
others we do even more for ourselves. 

In the present letter the Commission wishes to address the college men on what 
it considers the most immediate pressing problem of the South, and one of the most 
important for the nation, namely, Negro Migration. The present migration of the 
Negro is not an anomalous phenomenon in human affairs. The economic and social 
laws that affect the lives and actions of white men produce practically the same 
effects upon the Negro. It should not be surprising, therefore, to find him obeying 
so promptly and in such large numbers the economic law of demand and supply. 
There was no extensive migration until the industrial centers, facing a dangerous 
shortage of labor, owing to the complete shutting off of the European sources of 
supply, turned to the South, where large sources were available. And so they sent 
their agents, with very alluring promises, and liberally used the Negro press, hand- 
bills, letters, lecturers, and other means designed quickly to uproot the Negro and 
draw him to the railroads, factories, and mines, where his labor is sorely needed. 
The dollar has lured the Negro to the East and North, as it has lured the white man 
even to the most inaccessible and forbidding regions of the earth. But the human 
being is moved and held not by money alone. Birthplace, home ties, family, friends, 
associations and attachments of numerous kinds, fair treatment, opportunity to labor 
and enjoy the legitimate fruits of labor, assurance of even-handed justice in the 
courts, good educational facilities, sanitary living conditions, tolerance, and sympa- 
thy — these things, and others like them, make an even stronger appeal to the human 
mind and heart than does money. 

The South can not compete on a financial basis with other sections of the 
country for the labor of the Negro, but the South can easily keep her Negroes against 
all allurements if she will give them a larger measure of those things that human 
beings hold dearer than material goods. Generosity begets gratitude, and gratitude 
grips and holds man more powerfully than hooks of steel. It is axiomatic that fair 
dealing, sympathy, patience, tolerance, and other human virtues benefit those who 



exercise them even more than the beneficiaries of them. It pays to be just and kind, 
both spiritually and materially. Surely the South has nothing to lose and much to 
gain by adopting an attitude like that indicated above. 

(Signed) J. J. Doster, Professor of Education and Dean of the School of 
Education, University of Alabama. 

D. Y. Thomas, Professor of Political Science, University of Arkansas. 
James M. Farb, Professor of English, University of Florida. 

R. P. Brooks, Professor of History, University of Georgia. 
William 0. Scroggs, Professor of Sociology, Louisiana State 

University. 
W. L. Kennon, Professor of Physics, University of Mississippi. 

E. C. Branson, Professor of Rural Economics, University of North 

Carolina. 
Josiah Morse, Professor of Philosophy, University of South Carolina. 
James D. Hoskins, Dean of the University of Tennessee. 
W. S. Sutton, Professor of Education and Dean of the School of 

Education, University of Texas. 
W. M. Hunley, Professor of Economics, Virginia Military Institute. 

August 31, 1917. 



pD 10.4 



IV 

A NEW RECONSTRUCTION 

The world-wide reconstruction that is following in the wake of the war will 
necessarily affect the South in a peculiar way. Nearly 300,000 Negroes have been 
called into the military service of the country; many thousands more have been 
drawn from peaceful pursuits into industries born of the war; and several hundred 
thousand have shifted from the South to the industrial districts of the North. The 
demobilization of the army and the transition of industry from a war to a peace 
basis are creating many problems which can be solved only by the efforts of both 
races. The Negro, in adapting himself to the new conditions, should have the wise 
sympathy and generous cooperation of his white neighbors. It is to the interest 
of these, as well as of the Negro himself, that readjustment should proceed with the 
least possible difficulty and delay. 

We believe that this readjustment may be effectively aided by a more general 
appreciation of the Negro's value as a member of the community. Lack of sym- 
pathy and understanding between two groups of people frequently causes one group 
to regard the shortcomings of a few individuals of the other as characteristic of all 
that group. This is a natural tendency, but it is neither rational nor just, and it 
has proved, we believe, one of the great obstacles to the development of more 
satisfactory racial relations in this country. 

The Negroes' contribution to the welfare of the nation has never been more 
clearly indicated than by his services during the Great War. When the call to arms 
was sounded his country expected him to do his duty, and he did not fail. Large 
numbers of black men on the fields of France made the supreme sacrifice for the 
cause of world democracy. In other war services the Negroes did their full share. 
Many thousands were employed in the building of ships, the manufacture of muni- 
tions, the construction of cantonments, and in the production of the coal, iron, 
cotton, and food stuffs without which victory would have been impossible. The 
Negroes' purchases of Liberty Bonds and War Savings Stamps, and their contri- 
butions to the Red Cross, the United War Work Fund, and other similar agencies 
are in themselves a splendid record of which the Negroes and their white friends 
may be justly proud. 

It may also be appropriate in this connection to recall that throughout the 
period of hostilities the Negro was never suspected of espionage or of sympathy 
with the enemy, and that he has been wholly indifferent to those movements fostered 
by radical aliens that aim at the destruction of the American form of government. 
This good record of the whole race deserves such publicity as will offset the common 
tendency to judge it by the shortcomings of some of its members. No people is 
spurred to higher things when habitually referred to in disparaging or contemptuous 
terms. Ordinary human beings tend to live up to or down to the role assigned them 
by their neighbors. 



On several previous occasions the University Commission for the Study of Race 
Problems has addressed appeals to the college men of the South for more justice 
and fair play for the twelve millions of our colored citizens. At this time we would 
appeal especially for a large measure of thoughtfulness and consideration, for the 
control of careless habits of speech which give needless offense, and for the practice 
of just relations. To seek by all practicable means to cultivate a more tolerant 
spirit, a more generous sympathy, and a wider degree of cooperation between the 
best elements of both races, to emphasize the best rather than the worst features 
of interracial relations, to secure greater publicity for those whose views are based 
on reason rather than prejudice — these, we believe, are essential parts of the Recon- 
struction programme by which it is hoped to bring into the world a new era of 
peace and democracy. Because college men are rightly expected to be moulders of 
opinion, the Commission earnestly appeals to them to contribute of their talents 
and energy in bringing this programme to its consummation. 

(Signed) J. J. Dostek, Professor of Education and Dean of the School of 
Education, University of Alabama. 

D. Y. Thomas, Professor of Political Science, University of Arkansas. 
James M. Farr, Professor of English, University of Florida. 

R. P. Brooks, Professor of History, University of Georgia. 
William O. Scroggs, Professor of Sociology, Louisiana State 

University. 
W. L. Kennon, Professor of Physics, University of Mississippi. 

E. C. Branson, Professor of Rural Economics, University of North 

Carolina. 
Josiah Morse, Professor of Philosophy, University of South Carolina. 
James D. Hoskins, Dean of the University of Tennessee. 
W. S. Sutton, Professor of Education and Dean of the School of 

Education, University of Texas. 
W. M. Hunley, Professor of Economics, Virginia Military Institute. 

April 26, 1919. 






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